Justice News

District Man Sentenced to 30-Month Prison Term For Illegal Possession of Gun on Metrobus

Defendant Threatened to Shoot Metrobus Passengers

WASHINGTON – Michael N. Jackson, 44, of Washington, D.C., has been sentenced to a 30-month prison term on a federal firearms charge, stemming from his possession of a loaded handgun onboard a Metrobus in Northeast Washington, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Ron Pavlik, Chief of the Metro Transit Police Department.

Jackson pled guilty in June 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, and one count of simple possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced on Aug. 9, 2018, by the Honorable Amy Berman Jackson. Following his prison term, he will be placed on three years of supervised release.

According to the government’s evidence, on Sept. 14, 2017, at approximately 7:40 p.m., Jackson boarded a Metrobus at 8th and H Streets NE. He was highly intoxicated, and initiated an argument with another passenger. He later threatened to shoot and kill everyone on the bus.

Officers with the Metro Transit Police Department responded to the bus after it arrived at the Minnesota Avenue bus bay. They made contact with Jackson, and recovered a loaded 9-mm handgun from his waistband. After Jackson’s arrest, officers found crack cocaine in his pocket. Further investigation revealed that the handgun had been stolen from Prince George’s County, Md. Jackson has been in custody since his arrest.

This case marked Jackson’s fifth conviction for an offense involving a handgun. They included a 2006 conviction of a federal firearms charge in the District of Columbia and a 2014 conviction of a firearms charge in Prince George’s County, Md.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu and Chief Pavlik commended the work of the officers who investigated the case. They also acknowledged the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Akhi Johnson, Lisa Walters, and William Schurmann, who prosecuted the case.